The Heresies of the Shack – Part Five – Conclusion – Numbers 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13

Recap: When the movie “The Shack” began showing in theaters a few weeks ago, I was shocked by how many of my Christian friends, and leaders within the Christian community loved this movie and thought it was entirely biblical. No matter what you tell them or show them from the Bible, they still believe this movie is a wonderful representation of the Gospel. They defend it, ridicule fellow Believers for not liking it, call those who do not approve of it names such as “Pharisees”, “Broods of Vipers,” “Judgmental,” and “Dissenters in the Body of Christ,” the list goes on and on. No matter what you say, you are a terrible person for speaking against this movie and the gospel that is presented in it. I posted the above graphic in a debate on Facebook. Most everyone involved thinks the movie is excellent, but there are those who do not, and I am one of them. When I posted this graphic that I had seen elsewhere, I was attacked and told that I did not prove what the graphic states, and that I did not post any Bible verses to refute its claims. I admit they were right, so I am writing this article about the heresies listed in the graphic above. The graphic is hard to read so I will list the heresies here, and today we will cover numbers 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. This will be the conclusion of the series.

God the Father was crucified with Christ.

God is limited by His love and therefore, cannot practice judgment.

God forgave all of humanity, whether they repented or not.

All hierarchical structures are evil.

God will never judge people for their sins.

The Godhead has no hierarchical structure, just a circle of unity.

God submits to human wiles and choices.

Justice will never take place because of love.

There is no such thing as eternal judgment or torment in hell!

It does not matter which way you get to God. Jesus is walking with all people in their different journeys.

Jesus is constantly being transformed along with us.

Everyone will make it to heaven.

The Bible is not true because it reduces God to paper.

Those of you who are discerning and know your Bible well, will be sickened by these 13 heresies. There are more than these, but I will stick only to those listed within the graphic.

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We will begin with Heresy number 7 which states that “God submits to human wills and choices.”

This is more in tune to what Satan wanted when he rebelled against God, wanting God to submit to him. That did not work out so well for him, neither will it work out for us. First, God submits to no one. He is the Creator of all things and the Creator never has to bow down to His own creation. When you submit to someone, you are submitting yourself under that person’s authority.

For example, submitting to a police officer who writes you a ticket, you take the ticket and pay it, however, you can appeal it to a judge, but either way, you are submitting to authority, the policeman or the judges. Even if the judge sides with you, while you are in his courtroom, you are under his authority, and you obey the law as you go through your appeal.

The same can be said of God. One day you will be standing before God in His courtroom. Have you been found innocent because you trusted what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, or found guilty because you rejected it? Either way, you are under God’s authority. Don’t think you will
defy Him, because you won’t. You will be cowering on your knees. Every knee shall bow….

Obedience is another form of submission. Those who are obedient to God and His Word are placing themselves under His authority and those who are not obedient will be judged guilty. Disobedience is defying the rules or laws set in place to govern our behavior.

All of us are guilty of sin, we all sin, every day we do or think something that we should not. None of us are perfect, but Jesus is. When He lived among man He was still perfect. He was fully man, but He was also still fully God. It is His example of how He lived as a man that we are to try and follow. Jesus submitted to His Father. He did everything God sent Him here to do. He was totally and completely obedient to His Father’s will, even when it meant having to have all the sins of mankind in the world, past, future, and present, placed upon Him while on the cross.

Jesus prayed for God, if it were possible, to let that cup pass from Him:

‘“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”’ Matthew 26:39 (NIV)

And again:

‘”He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”’ Matthew 26:42

What was in the cup was our sin. He shuddered at the thought of having to bear it, yet He submitted and obeyed His Father completely.

Sin is abhorrent to God and Jesus, being the Son of God, (and is God) was dreading that moment when all sins were placed on Him, yet it was the only way we could be saved. He took our punishment for us. If we accept what He did, we are saved and will not have to answer for our sin. He already paid the price. We should, just as Jesus did, submit all areas of our lives to God and obey Him. Those who reject Christ and do not submit now will submit on judgment day.

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1

To say God submits to us is a fallacy. Isaiah tells us that we are the clay and the Father is the Potter. We, as the clay, are to submit to God and let Him mold us into what He wants us to be, His children. The Potter is our Creator. How dare we rise up and demand He submit to us! It’s ludicrous to even ponder such a thought!

“Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?” Isaiah 45:9

“Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah. 64:8

Next, we come to heresy number 9: There is no such thing as eternal hell or torment in hell.

If you believe this one, then I am sorry to tell you that you are greatly mistaken. Jesus preached a great deal on hell. You can deny that, of course, but you are still wrong. God created hell for Satan and the angels who rebelled with him. When Adam sinned, it also became a place for unrepentant sinners.

As stated above, God cannot bear the presence of sin. He cannot be near it or by anyone whose sins have not been covered by the redeeming blood of Christ, meaning that when God looks upon those who are trusting Christ as Savior, all He sees is the righteousness of Christ covering us. Our sins are paid for and we are forgiven. When we do sin, we confess it and repent of it and He will forgive us (1 John 1:9).

Those who say they cannot follow a God who would send anyone to eternal torture must remember this: Jesus is the Son of God. He cannot bear to be in the presence of sin. He is holy and just and true. When He was on the cross, every single sin that has ever been, or will be committed, was placed upon Him. He had to bear it, and He had to endure the wrath of God to pay for those sins, and it was torture for Him. My mother once told me that Jesus, when He died, was unrecognizable. He had been beaten so severely, He was already dying. They pulled his beard out, shoved a crown of thorns on His head and placed a robe on Him, over His wounds received by his beating. He was then forced to carry the beam to His cross. He carried it on His shoulder until He collapsed. He was weak and in shock from the beatings. Someone else had to carry His cross and follow Him up that hill to the place of His crucifixion. Then nails were driven into His hands and feet, and He was hung up on the cross. Can you imagine that happening to you? But that wasn’t the worst of it for Him. It was the sin that was more torturous for Him than the wounds. He bore them all, so you would not have to. If we accept what He has done for us, then we will never have to.

Do you honestly think Jesus would have gone through that if there were no hell, no punishment for sin? To believe there is no hell is to make a mockery of His death on the cross and all that He endured. He would never have had to come here as a man if there were no penalty for sin. But there is a penalty and you will pay it eternally if you deny Christ. We all deserve hell, but no one has to go there if they just believe, and trust in Jesus Christ. Many have learned that too late. They rejected Christ and are in hell now. Those who have trusted in Christ and died are with Him now. You can live your best life now and endure an eternity in hell or you can deny your life now and live your best life in heaven. The choice is yours. Hell is real and you will go there if you remain in your sin and die, and you will have only yourself to blame (Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:5; Luke 16: `9-21; 2 Peter 2:4 Revelation 20:13-15; Psalm 9:7-8).

“God is the standard of justice. He uses His power according to His own moral perfection. Whatever he does is fair, even if we don’t understand it. Our response is to appeal directly to Him.”[1]

God sees all, is everywhere all the time, nothing escapes His notice. He did not have to send His Son to die for us, but He did. I pray you read all the verses I have given you from the Bible, and realize that you do need a Savior, put your trust in Him and believe, so that you will never have to go to hell.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” John 3:16-21

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” John 3:36

Heresy numbers 10 and 12:It does not matter which way you get to God. Jesus is walking with all people in their different journey, and Everyone will make it to heaven.

Once again, if this were true, Jesus would never have had to die on the Cross. He would not have had to have been born. Jesus Himself stated that He was the only way to God.

‘Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”’ John 14:6-7

” Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

Here we see that it does, indeed matter, if you want to get to God. Jesus is God. It is only through Him that the Father will see you as one of His own. Jesus is the narrow Gate. Only by going through it will you be saved. There is no other way. You cannot have salvation on your own terms. Your will does not supersede God’s will. Acknowledge this, that Jesus is God, repent of your sins, ask forgiveness for them, put your trust in Him and accept the gift of salvation that He freely gives, and you will be saved. Any other way is pointless to seek because it does not exist. If you die in your sins, you will not get another chance, it will be too late. After death is judgment and hell.

Heresy number 11:Jesus is constantly being transformed along with us.

This is false and it is an attempt to bring Jesus down to our level instead of striving to be on His level. Jesus is God the Son. He does not need to be transformed! He is perfect in all His ways, in every way. He is sinless. There is no need for Him to be transformed.

Transformation occurs when we are saved. Jesus does not need to be saved. As we live our lives growing in Christ, we are constantly being transformed into His image. How can He be transformed into Himself? Why would he need to be transformed when He is already perfect? Yes, He was a man, but He was a perfect man, there was no sin found in Him.

As we are being transformed into the image of Jesus, we are being made holy, because He is holy.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

We are constantly being transformed into a new creature, to be holy. Once again, Jesus is already holy, without sin, and does not need to be transformed.

Heresy number 13: The Bible is not true because it reduces God to paper. This one is just ridiculous. The Bible is the Living Word of God. Jesus is the Living Word (John 1:1).

He is alive and down through the millennia, the Holy Spirit (Who is God the Spirit-the very breath of God) has inspired men to write down the Word, then He uses men to teach and preach that Word to all the earth. The authors often wrote that “This is what the LORD says”, “Thus says the LORD”, “God said”, and “Jesus said”. God used 44 men to write the 66 books of the Bible.

It is God-breathed, without error and life to all of us who are dying spiritually. It saves, transforms, and gives us hope and a relationship with Christ by reading it and living it. It is used to preach salvation to the lost. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16

“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21

These heresies in The Shack serve only to deceive and cause unbelief. It is deception, it is the lie. Do not be deceived by it. Heresy is 99% truth and 1% false, yet it is the 1% that will kill your soul. Compare what it says to what the Bible says and you will see this for yourself.